30 day paleo challenge - a step by step guide

A personal trainer at my gym has laid down the gauntlet to some of us keen paleo hacks - a 30 day strict paleo challenge, no dairy, no grains, no alcohol, no legumes, no sugar and of course no processed foods. For anyone who has read any of my blog you will know that I am already a big fan of paleo/primal eating and stick to it at least 80% of the time if not 90%.

Grains are easy for me to shun and I haven't eaten any wheat based grains for a few months apart from one piece of chocolate birthday cake in August. The fact that wheat is so genetically modified and pretty toxic for our bodies these days is enough to keep me on track. Funnily enough the smell of bread is better than the taste for me these days! I can get high on the smell of freshly baked bread that my husband brings home on Saturday for him and our 10 year old twins (they are not yet convinced about paleo eating but I'm working on it!).

What I will miss is dairy mainly natural yogurt and goats cheese/halloumi cheese. I also have a small amount of milk in black tea a couple of times a day so I'm giving up black tea too. I will still have a couple of cups of green tea per day. Wine of course is a nice indulgence at weekends so that will be missed and I have two meals out to contend with during the 30 days.

So, why I am doing this at all then?Well it's good to challenge myself to see it I can stick on plan for that long. It's also great for my body to rid it of any lingering toxins or intolerances.

For 30 days I'm planning on posting what I've eaten, how I'm feeling and what is keeping me going. If you feel like joining me in my 30 day challenge leave a note below and we can support each other. Each day I'll also post what I've eaten, partly as it keeps me accountable and partly to give other people ideas about what the paleo diet is all about.

Breakfast  - three egg omelette with left over veg from yesterday and a spoonful of coconut oil

Mid morning snack - kale crisps (very yummy) see my recipe on this blog

Lunch - tin mackrel, lettuce, tomatoes, celery, red pepper, half avocado, dressing made from raw apple cider vinegar, avocado oil, olive oil and macadamia nut oil

Late afternoon snack - stick of celery, small handful macadamia nuts

Dinner - free range chicken breast cooked with coconut oil and spices, half sweet potato cut into wedges, green vegetable mix (cabbage, courgettes, broccoli)

See my post tomorrow for day 2!